My two years serving the people of the Philippines as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Monday, June 9, 2014

June 8, 2014

Hey mama:) I didnt know that coops graduation was this week. It is way weird to see my lil brother and his friends in the graduation uniform! It is weird to think about them all as graduated. Coop is about to become a man real quick in a couple months when he hits the mission. I am so excited for that kid to step in the mission field and just get to work in the Lords work. Mama, you have no more kids in highschool! how great is that? that probably is a masarap feeling for sure, but hey mama and pops i sure am proud and grateful for you both and your amazing examples to me and us kids. I cant even express how many times i realize things throughout my day and just say...... i learned that from my parents. Everyday you two especially are in my mind helping me with the Lords work as well.

I bet it was so great to just be wit the whole family:) well not the whole family but hey there was still alot of the family and that is always way fun. I miss my cousins and i am really excited to see them all big and grown up and I hope i can still help them all laugh from time to time.:) HEY CLARK FAMILY............. I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU ALL:)

Hey so transfers happened and I thought i was really going to miss claveria because the people there were seriously my family and i just didnt want to leave yet....... BUT, my new companion is Elder E and he is the man. I have been blessed and blessed and blessed with the best companions. Elder A who was my last companion, i really thought that it was going to be a struggle but he became one of my best friends and we had the best time. And now, I am with such a stud missionary. he has been in the mission for about 4 months longer then me and he is just a stud missionary. Lets just say we work so good together and I have never worked so well with another missionary. Elder E tagalog is amazing and i am okay in tagalog but our teaching is bomb and the Lord has blessed us a lot this week. Elder E is from Utah and he loves to sing so hopefully we get the chance to sing together haha. Like i said in my last email.... i am really close to Laoag and the mission work is just a lil different out here... its " alot more difficult" but i dont agree haha. When i got here to Bacarra " my area" Elder E said that the area was struggling and we had to pick it up alot. we had 2 baptismal dates in the beginning of this week and no investigators had been coming to church and being zone leaders our area really has to be the example area. Anyways, this week before we started working Elder E looked at the area and talked about what he had to do and get done so ya that is what we did through the help of the Lord completely, and because my companion is way talented. Well we found 7 new baptismal dates this week and 5 of those is this family who literally was so prepared for us missionaries they were just sitting in their house like they were just waiting for us. We walked in and we taught them the restoration and the excepted baptismal dates and it was one of the coolest experiences in my mission because our area was struggling a lot and then in one week the Lord just flipped around our area and we are just was excited to work.

I really love my new area and my new companion and I feel great. I am gaining my weight back and I am super super excited to just work hard and get done what needs to get done. I seriously love being a missionary, it is the greatest privledge that i have ever been given in my life. I wish the mission was 3 years cause there just is not a greater work then this in this day of time. People are crying for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is the best feeling when you find them and help them and teach them and just see their progression and see the big change in their life.

I do have a funny story for you though. the first night in baccara we got fed by the bishop and the next day our stomachs were way jacked up..... anyways we worked in the morning and it hit elder E before it hit me haha and again this is really the first day we were companions...... so we went and worked and at the end of the work in the morning elder e just looks at me and says....... " hey, i gotta poo dude we gotta go" and we walked like a mile as fast as we could to our apartment and right before we reached the apartment he just pooed in the pants haha and then that night at work is when it hit me.......... we were in our last lesson of the night and it hit me so bad. my stomach was upside down and just screaming the bathroom and i just whispered to elder erickson in like slang english so they would not understand haha i said " i gotta take a duece." and we tried to end the lesson but it just kept going and in the middle of our investigator talking and explaining something i just kinda yelled and said.... brother do you have a bathroom I need to use and i ran to his bathroom and yep thats the end of the story for now hahaha......... but it is all okay and our stomachs feel good now we are happy haha:)

I love you all and i miss you all like crazy. I think about my family and close ones all the time and I appreciate your love and examples to me in my life. Life is way good and happy days, all is well.

HEY !!! I just saw ELDER T:) i have not seen him since we were last companions. he was the companion that was with me in the first skype session haha the big samoan. gosh is was so good to see him!:)